Child Support

By law, both parents are obligated to make a financial contribution to the care of their child(ren). The parent with physical custody of the child is going to financially provide, so the non-custodial parent will contribute through child support payments to the custodial parent.

If you are facing divorce and child support is going to be a matter that will have to be decided upon, you wish to seek child support from a parent who has never paid or who has failed to pay, or you need to challenge a child support matter, your Duluth child support attorney can help you.

Straightforward Child Support Representation

Child support in Minnesota has three components:

• Medical support
• Child care support
• Basic support

Once support is established, the payments continue until the child graduates from high school or turns 18, whichever occurs last. The guidelines in Minnesota are rather specific and they are used to calculate the amount of the payments that will be received for the child. The income of both of the parents and the amount of parenting time is considered when determining how much the non-custodial parent is to pay to the custodial parent.

Helping You Address Child Support Issues

Child support that is not paid when it is supposed can become an arrearage and that arrearage cannot be forgiven without appearing before the court. In Minnesota, there are a number of consequences when someone doesn’t pay all of the child support that they owe. Those consequences include:

• The revocation or denial of a driver’s license
• Taking state and federal tax refunds
• Suspending or denying occupational licenses
• Revoking or denying recreational licenses
• Revoking or denying a passport
• Prison time through a court action
• Charging interest on past due child support
• Placing a hold on bank accounts
• Property and automobile liens
• Reporting to a consumer reporting agency
• Referral to a collection agency
• When a person doesn’t pay the child support that the court orders to be paid, they are in contempt. In many cases, they are given the opportunity to make it right before they are punished. If you are due support and the payer is not paying it or you are someone who has been accused of not paying support, a Duluth family law lawyer can help you throughout the process.

What cannot happen when child support is not paid is the parent cannot be denied parenting time. Parenting time and support are treated as two different things. Halting parenting time because of unpaid child support is not considered to be in the best interest of the child.

Contact A Duluth Child Support Attorney

Child support is a very important element in the care of a child. If you need to establish support, modify child support, or there is another related matter that needs tending to, having an experienced child support attorney by your side throughout the process will help you obtain the best result. To learn more about how the Benjamin Kaasa Law Office, PLLC can help you, call 218-464-3397 for a consultation.